2 out of 4 stars
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William H. Coles’ fictional piece, Guardian of Deceit follows the life of an orphaned boy, tossed from one family member to another. The landing spot for Darwin, the orphan, is the home of his professional athlete cousin, exposing him to a darker side of wealth and privilege. As Darwin navigates life, he keeps his goals and ambitions in the forefront of his mind. The readers get to see the fury of life whip around Darwin as he stands steady, focused and hardworking. We get to follow our main character from a late teen to an adult.
As the book proceeds we are taken down numerous character roads, getting a sneak peek into the life of or the back story of all the key players in Darwin’s tornado of a life. Violence, misfortune, death and sexual harassment is all touched upon by Coles, making it somewhat relatable to the world we live in today. Unexpected story lines, that are interesting, unfold as the chapters’ progress.
I personally enjoyed being surprised at what I was reading next, but a lot of the story lines are either too long or unnecessary. We circle around Darwin’s pro-athlete cousin for way too long and way too in depth. We are made to believe he is violent and abusive, yet when push came to shove about a “who-dunnit” portion of the book, the supporting characters decide he is not capable of the violence depicted. The characters all play a role in Darwin’s life and we are taken down each of their paths, being informed of the ins and the outs of each of them and then left with very little closure about them in the end. We were lead to believe these characters carried a certain level of importance, only to be snubbed of that importance by the story’s end. I was not a fan of Coles’ character portrayals. We get introduced to people in Darwin’s life in certain lights, only to be surprised by their behavior by the end of the book. It seemed too out of the blue.
As the story unfolded, I enjoyed the quick progression through the years of our main character’s life. We get to learn about his current position and obstacles, move into how he overcame said obstacles and we get pushed along to the next life experience. It was an interesting read. I liked most about this book was the author’s ability to keep me entertained. The worst part of the book was tangents we were taken on in supporting character’s lives; albeit still interesting.
I would recommend this book for people who need a light read of entertainment. Some of the topics are not “light”, but they are not haunting or unsettling. It is a book that can be picked up and put down without the fear of forgetting what you had already read. I would rate this book a 2 out of 4 stars, only because the characters either became something different in the end, dropped to the waste side or the closure we were given felt incomplete. I wanted more or at least a little more tie together.
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Guardian of Deceit
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